Snakes and ladders

‘That’s exactly my point.’

‘Well, whatever happens, I’ll wear it. As far as I’m concerned, I thought he had approved this. Whoops. My mistake.’

‘Let’s just get the hell out of here,’ she said.

‘We can’t go just yet. He needs me to sign the continuity form,’ Striker said.

Felicia just gave him one of her sharp looks before turning away. She shook her head, brushed her long dark hair over her shoulder, and focused on the gigantic painting on the far wall – a recreation of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, except in this painting, Adam wasn’t touching God, he was touching a spiralling strand of DNA.

Striker watched Felicia from behind, feeling the cold shoulder she was giving him. It was all right; she had reason to. He completely understood that. What he was doing could get them into major shit. Yet again. And sooner or later, a suspension was bound to happen. Lately, he’d been cutting more corners than a Vancouver taxi driver. But he couldn’t help it.

That was the only way things ever got done around here.

He was just about to force some conversation with Felicia – try to smooth things out a little – when his cell went off. He whipped it out, read the screen and saw Mike Rothschild’s name. He picked up.

‘Sergeant,’ Striker said.

‘Hey, Snow White, how’s life in the forest?’

‘We’re real busy here, Mike.’

Rothschild laughed at his irritation. ‘I got some news for you.’

‘Good news?’

‘Yeah. The camera cunts showed up.’

Striker felt his jaw tighten. ‘The media? Again?’

‘You said it. What ya want me to tell them?’

‘Who the hell leaked?’

‘Find me a magic mirror and I’ll tell you.’

Striker thought over their options. Dealing with the media was always a hassle. They distorted facts to make articles more sensational, and they had no respect for a person’s privacy. Whether the victim was alive or dead, young or old, passed away or horribly mutilated and murdered – it was irrelevant to the media. All that mattered was how many viewers were watching. Or how many papers sold. Everything was numbers and headlines.

‘Tell them it’s a suicide at this point, but the investigation is ongoing.’

‘Done.’

‘That’s all and no more, Mike – I want to keep a tight lid on this one. Real tight.’

‘So I shouldn’t tell them we suspect Taliban involvement.’

Striker smiled grimly at the comment. ‘At least then I’d have a suspect.’

He hung up the cell and pinched the bridge of his nose. There was pressure there, building up behind his eyes. The aspirin did jack shit; the headache was growing.

He should have expected it. So far everything was going sideways. Mandy was dead. A suspect had escaped. Felicia was pissed at him again. And now the media had shown up, asking questions on a case where he still had no real proof of anything. What was this – a strange suicide? A date-rape overdose? A snuff film?

Or something even more dark?

The thought left him sick. A ball of stress was knotting up his insides, getting tighter and tighter with every turn. This call was a bomb, he knew, and the fuse had already been lit.

Sooner or later, it was going to blow up on them.

Twelve

How much time had passed, the Adder had no idea. Whenever the sounds returned – the laughter, the thunderous cracks, the screams and then the silence – he always scrambled for his white-noise device. Only when it was turned on full, with the headphones jammed right into his ears, was there ever peace. And time had little meaning.

Regardless, time had passed. And his mind had finally calmed to a much more logical level where he could think again. Rationalize. Assess.

He got the glove.

This was disconcerting. Not because it made him easier for the police to identify or catch, but because it had never happened before. This was an unprecedented error.

The first time he’d ever come up Snake Eyes.

From now on he would have to be smarter than that. From now on he would wear a layer of latex beneath the leather gloves. As a necessary precaution. Because the damage was already done.

There was a link now.

With that notion came the other thoughts – the ones that left a tingling sensation ru

He felt his facial muscles tighten with the thought, and he could not relax them. This cop was smarter than most. He had co

No choice.

The anxiety swelled up again, too much to contain. And the Adder leaned back and let out a sorrowful sound. He crawled across the cold cement floor to the far wall with the cabinet. He took hold of the edges, then paused for a moment to look up at the hatch in the ceiling.

It was locked and in place.

Safe.

The Adder slid the cabinet out of the way. It was heavy and scuffed on the floor as he did it but, like always, he got it to move.

Located in the wall was a small hollow. There lay his silver container – his own personal holy grail. A case which he cleaned and polished several times a day, so much that it glowed like a mercury halo. Inside it were his DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

Inside it was his salvation.

He took hold of the case, removing it so gently, so carefully. He set it down on the soft burgundy towel he kept on the ground, then opened the case. He stared in wonder. Two rows of DVDs and Blu-ray discs. His files. His wonderful, beautiful movies. Thirty-six to be exact.

There should have been thirty-seven.

Mandy Gill’s movie was still missing. And it was going to be a problem.

The sight of the empty DVD space brought the darkness back, but before the thought could settle in his mind, the bell went off. The noise so sharp – not only in its sound but in what it signified – that he stiffened like he’d been whipped across the back with a belt.

The Doctor was calling.

And that was never good.

The Adder felt a shiver run through his body, and he quickly regained his senses. He closed the silver box and gently placed it back in the hollow. Then he took hold of the cabinet and slowly, carefully, slid it back into place, hiding the hole in the wall.

He scrambled up the ladder and undid the latch.

When he stepped inside the study, the contrast between the rooms was alarming. His was cold; the Doctor’s so very hot. His was dark and gloomy; the Doctor’s so bright and glaring. And his room offered a safe, protected feeling, one that may have been false and imagined, but one that was there nonetheless. Here, in the Doctor’s office, there was always a sense of danger. Of threat. Of despair.

And it was very, very real.

The Doctor was already there, sitting in a high-backed leather chair. The darkness made the world out there appear hidden, indistinct.

It matched the mood.

‘I am not happy,’ the Doctor finally said.

The Adder looked down. ‘I know.’

‘You have been very foolish.’

‘It wasn’t my fault. The police . . . they were just suddenly there.’

‘Did they see your face?’

‘They know nothing.’

‘Did they see your face?’

‘No.’

‘They had better not. We’ve got a lot of work to do, you and I, and I can’t have you getting into trouble like this.’

The room was silent for a long moment – a time that could have been minutes or seconds to the Adder, for time rarely flowed normally. Then the Doctor spoke again. Simple words. Brief and direct.